Pages

Saturday, July 30, 2016

The Guitars of The Cure

"I encourage everyone to pop on a pair of headphones and listen to a few songs by The Cure – especially if you’ve never really paid close attention before. You’ll hear how a few simple melodic ideas can be blended together to form a much more complex whole. It’s really intriguing to listen to and learn from how each instrument works together, especially when the six-string bass is used: often Robert Smith might play a high melody while Simon Gallup plays a more traditional bassline, but sometimes these roles become cloudy: Gallup will play a more wandering melody while Robert plays something more anchored. The lines really become blurred between the roles of each instrument in service of the song. Robert Smith, Reeves Gabrels and Simon Gallop all have current signature model instruments to help them get their sound. Let’s have a look at them all."

I do not understand all of the hate for Schecter guitars. I have the Robert Smith model and I think it is a great guitar! I have many guitars in my collection and the RS model holds its own against Gibsons and Fenders. I also make my own guitars which is what I prefer to play these days, but the Smith Model Schecter is at the top of the list when I grab for a guitar that I did not make.

As far as their signature sound, Robert has changed guitars more than he has changed his shoes. Their sound has very little to do with a piece of wood with pickups. It is their style, their "touch", effects, and amps which give them the largest percentage of their "sound".

I am fortunate to be endorsed by a major acoustic guitar manufacturer. In my opinion, acoustic guitars are the only area where major differences can be heard between manufactures. It is here where I would agree that the Schecter acoustic guitars are not quite on par with the tonal qualities of some of the other top acoustic brands. Although it must be said that once you plug an acoustic guitar into an amp/PA, and blast an audience of thousands of screaming fans the differences in tonal qualities quickly become negligible.